I'm going to let you all in on little secret... I have not always had the best luck with cooking steaks. However, and my husband can attest to this, I have come a long way from where I began. That being said, I would like to tell you about the best steak I have ever eaten outside of a steakhouse.
At my house we do a lot of grilling in the warmer seasons, so every year as the winter drags on, I begin to miss that mouth-watering grill smell more and more. Well, last week when I saw a 34 degree day in our forecast, I gave in to my craving and headed up to the Story City Locker. I came home that day with two freshly cut, 1.5" thick, boneless rib-eye steaks, each weighing in at 1.25 lbs. I have to send a big "Thank You!" to Bobbi, Ty and the folks at the meat locker, because these were some seriously beautiful custom processed cuts of beef!
I was pretty excited to cook these, but honestly, I was also a little nervous due to their fantastic quality. After a bit of debate with myself, I decided to go simple and fresh - I did next to nothing with the steaks themselves before cooking, and mixed up a fast and easy compound butter to top them after grilling.
If you are in search of a simple, yet indulgent dish to make at home, this is it...
What You Need:
2 boneless rib-eyes (1-1.25 lb each)
olive oil
freshly ground pepper & sea salt
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 poblano pepper
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh lime juice
habañero infused sea salt (optional)
Remove steaks from the refrigerator and unwrap. Drizzle steaks with olive oil and lightly rub oil onto both sides of each steak. Generously sprinkle steaks with freshly ground sea salt and a little pepper. Crush the garlic cloves and rub one on each steak. Break each clove apart into 2-3 pieces and place them on the steaks. Allow steaks to rest like this on your kitchen counter for 30-60 minutes.
While steaks are resting, prepare the compound butter. Start your grill and allow it to reach about 500 degrees (with my propane grill this takes about 5-10 minutes on high heat). When grill is hot, place the poblano pepper over medium-high flames and cook for about 15 minutes, turning every 4-5 minutes until all sides begin to char. Remove pepper from grill and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board. Once the poblano has cooled enough for you to handle it, peel off and discard the outer skin. Finely chop about 2/3 of the pepper (after removing the seeds if desired - leaving the seeds in will give your butter a bit more spice).
Whip the butter on medium-high speed in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 3-5 minutes until soft and creamy. Lower speed to medium-low and mix in the chopped pepper, cilantro, paprika and a dash of habañero salt if desired. Once all ingredients are well combined, scoop butter mixture out into a ball on a sheet of parchment paper or saran wrap. Fold the parchment paper over the butter and form the mixture into a log-shape with your fingers on the outside of the paper. Wrap and chill until steaks are ready to serve.
When you are ready to cook your steaks, get your grill nice and hot. Place prepared steaks on the grill, over the flame in position for them to cook in the same amount of time. Cover the grill and check back 4-5 minutes later. Using tongs, turn each steak slightly to create diamond-shaped grill marks and replace grill lid. After another 3-4 minutes, flip each steak and replace the lid. After 4-5 minutes, repeat the diamond-shape steps from the first side. After each side has cooked for a total of 7-10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the steak), use a meat thermometer to check the interior temperature of each steak. A steak cooked to medium should be about 160 degrees at it's thickest point. If steaks are not yet cooked to your desired temperature, flip and continue cooking for a couple more minutes on each side, then test again.
Once your steaks are cooked to your liking, use tongs to remove them from the grill and place them on a heat-proof plate. Allow steaks to rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting. Top each steak with 1 tbsp of poblano butter and serve with the salad of your choice.
Enjoy!
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